Rescuer: We Needed Swimmers To Save 3 Lives

July 27, 1985|By Leslie Kemp of The Sentinel Staff

SANFORD — When a boy said his brother was drowning in the Wekiva River Thursday evening, Rita Shively went to help.

She drove her car to the riverfront at the campground where she lives and dived off a seawall into the dark water. The 120-pound woman pulled a floundering Pennsylvania man twice her size to safety but was too late to rescue his two teen-age children and her friend, a campground employee who died trying to save the youths.

Shively, 34, reflected Friday on the accident that killed three people at Katie's Wekiva River Landing on Wekiva Park Drive west of Sanford.

''You do what you can and I wish I could have done a lot more,'' she said. ''A friend had died, a father of nine was saved and two nearly grown children sleep. There were just not enough people who could swim when we needed them.'' Autopsies conducted Friday showed the three drowned, said Seminole County sheriff's spokesman John Spolski. They were identified as Karen E. Daniels, 16, and Ezel Daniels Jr., 17, both of Philadelphia, and Edward Priestner, 25, of Sanford Landings Apartments, Sanford.

Sheriff's officials credit Shively with rescuing the children's father, Ezel Daniels Sr. She also pulled Priestner's body from the river, but efforts by bystanders, a deputy sheriff and firefighters to revive him failed.

Spolski said the accident occurred at 5:30 p.m. as Karen sat on her brother's shoulders and he waded in the river. Neither could swim. Ezel Jr. stepped into a hole and they submerged. Their father, who also could not swim, jumped into the river and their mother, Ethel, alerted camp residents.

The family, which included seven other children, had been vacationing at the campground for four days, Spolski said.

Priestner ran to the riverfront, took off his shoes and jumped in to help. About that time Shively, who was driving out of the park, learned of the accident and hurried to the scene.

Shively said Priestner could not swim but one park employee called him an ''excellent swimmer.''

''I pulled the car to the river and ran jumping off the seawall to help,'' Shively said. ''There was a man Priestner surfacing for air -- he looked okay -- ahead 15 yards were two the father and son floundering in the water. I swam to the closest one Ezel Sr. who was bobbing under and told him to lay back and float.''

The man complied. As Shively pulled him to shore, she looked for Priestner, but ''he was gone.'' She told a park employee to get Priestner, but the man said he could not swim.

Shively then dove for Priestner and pulled him to the surface. A park employee pulled them to shore and two bystanders tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, she said. Others pulled Karen's body onto the shore. Ezel Jr.'s body was recovered an hour later by Russell Moncrief, who owns the park with his wife, Katie.

Deputy James Virgin, 42, arrived within five minutes, Shively said. He started CPR on Priestner and instructed two bystanders to do the same to Karen Daniels. Firefighters soon arrived and took over the CPR duties.

''Considering we live 10 miles plus from Sanford, help came in good time, but it seemed like an eternity,'' Shively said. ''They were set up and working spontaneously, improving treatment as equipment came. I am so thankful they were there. Disorder runs rampant at these times.''

Safety officials said Friday that bystanders who find themselves in similar situations should first try to throw a floating device to a drowning person. If you must jump in the water, carry something buoyant that will keep you afloat, they said.

''Take the time to take something with you to assist you. Few of us are strong enough swimmers to keep up one person, much less two people,'' said Seminole Assistant Fire Chief Bill Kinley. ''Someone that's drowning is going to try to drag you under -- they're in trouble.''

Kinley said rescuers should look for anything that floats -- a canoe paddle, a cushion, a spare tire.

''Don't get in the water unless you have to,'' said Charles Parrish, water safety committee chairman of the Central Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross. ''A lot of training goes into rescuing people.''